Fence-bracket



(No Model.)

N. KRAMER & W. H. GEE.

' FENCE BRACKET.

No. 427,476. Patented May 6, 1890.

W 7l Y2UVESSES Y Ii V JVYOQA W} UNITED STATES PATEN FFlCE;

NICHOLAS KRAMER AND WVILLIAM I-I. GEE, OF PEVAMO, MICHIGAN.

FENCE-BRACKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,476, dated May 6, 1890.

Application filed July 12, 1889. Serial No. 317,286. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, NICHOLAS KRAMER and WVILLIAM H. GEE, citizens of the United States, and residents of Pewamo, in the county of Ionia and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Brackets; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of this invention, and is a top view. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken where the broken line m at is marked on Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a side view. Fig. 4 is a detail and side view.

This invention has relation to brackets and supports for the bars of rail fences; and it consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates the vertical parallel upwardlytapering rail-keepers, having confined between them the ends of the rails or bars'B, the said keepers being bound together at the top and bot-tom by the binding-wires Z and O.

The letters D indicate inclined brackets tapering from the lower ends upward, secured to the rail-keepers A, on opposite sides of the latter above the rails B, by twisted bindingwires d and staples e, arranged at the ends and middle of each panel.

The brackets D are inclined from above downward and outward and rest .on. the ground to suspend the fence-rails, which are confined between the vertical keepers A free from the ground. The upper portion of said brackets cross each other on opposite sides of said rail-keepers, and are secured each to their respective adjacent keepers at the angles formed at their crossing by wire bands d, which are first twisted to secure the position of the parts, and then fastened by giving a half twist to the said wire band, with the staple 6 introduced over the wire and driving the latter home into the brackets and keepers. This may be done by the insertion of a suitable instrument or tool into said staple and grasping and turning said staple with the hand, the staple being turned from the dotted-line position of Fig. 2 to the full-line position of the same figure.

The ends of the lower rails of the fence rest upon the keepers, and the horizontal position of the said rails is preserved by the binding of the keepers with the wire bands,

as shown. The rails, as well as their keepers, taper on their vertical sides from below upward, this construction facilitating the use of lighter rails in the upper portion of the fence and throwing the greater weight below the point of suspension to steady the fence.

Supplementary upper rails or riders F are disposed, in a manner similar to the lower rails, above the brackets and secured by oblique binding-wires Z to prevent the more active cattle from leaping over the fence.

It is designed in this invention to provide a fence which can be erected without employing posts sunk in the ground, the brackets supplying the place of such' posts and being distributed in such a manner that when it becomes necessary to remove a bracket the remaining brackets will afford ample support for the panels of the fence until a new bracket has been placed in position.

\Vhat we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The fence-bracket comprising the parallel uprights or keepers, rails bound to and between said uprights or keepers by wires forming a suspended panel, the inclined brackets crossing said keepers and bound thereto by the wires cl and staples c, said wires having an initial twist securing the uprights or keepers and bracket in position, and a half-twist, and held in said staples driven into the keepers and brackets and across said wires, clamping them in place, two of these wires and staples being employed for each bracket and In testimony whereof we affix our signakeeper and arranged one above and one betures in presence of two Witnesses.

low and each side of the plane of crossing of Y said brackets, the supplementary rails or riders arranged above the said plane of crossing, and the Wires Z, securing the latter rails Witnesses:

between the upper ends of the keepers, sub- ANTHONY FOX,

stantially as specified. FRED KLEE. 

